The U.S. stock-market crash that began on 6 May 2010 was the Flash Crash.
During the afternoon, major U.S. equity indexes fell rapidly, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing about 1,000 points, or roughly 9%, in minutes. Many securities experienced extremely sharp temporary price movements before recovering much of the decline.
Investigations identified a combination of market conditions, automated trading, and a large sell order as important factors. The event showed how electronic markets could transmit selling pressure at extraordinary speed, even without a conventional economic shock.
The Flash Crash did not mark the start of a prolonged bear market like the 2008 crisis. Regulators introduced or strengthened measures such as single-stock circuit breakers and market-wide trading pauses. The event also remains a common example of the risks created by complex, high-speed market systems.